EU will invest in Spain-France energy interconnectivity

The EU will provide a €578 million grant for the building of an offshore and underground electricity link through the Bay of Biscay between France and Spain, said Miguel Arias Cañete, the commissioner for climate action and energy, on 25 January. The aim is to share excess power between the two countries and to improve EU energy interconnections with the Iberian Peninsula.

With this investment, The European Commission aspires to meet its climate goals, as well as to reduce the EU’s dependence on Russian gas. This new energy link will increase the capacity between the two neighbours to 5,000MW and will enable Spain to better integrate the internal energy market while improving the EU’s security of supply. Spain has a high solar energy potential and cheap renewable energy to export, said Jean-François Fauconnier of Climate Action Network, explaining why the EU is investing in the development of interconnectors within the country. Announced on 25 January, the €873 million EU investment in 17 energetic projects across Europe expects to improve the bloc's interconnectivity so to meet EU energy consumption ambitions to be half renewable by 2030, and to be fully decarbonized by 2050.